The Roommate
by Wish on the Star
Summary: They say you shouldn't trust strangers, but when Caroline gets kicked out of boarding school and has nowhere else to go, she finds herself forced to accept a strange man's proposal to move in with him. Was getting involved with him a mistake? Yes, most likely. Klaroline AU.
1. Encounter in the Alley

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries or any of the characters.**

* * *

It was cold.

And no, not just a little chilly, like it'd sometimes be in the city of New Orleans, and everywhere else for that matter, but freezing cold. It was the kind of cold that you would sometimes feel on cold winter nights, the kind of cold that you could feel into the very bone, and that made your toes and fingers start to hurt.

And not only was it cold, but it was also starting to get dark.

Caroline hated the dark. She always had and always would. Back when she was a little girl, she'd always imagine all sorts of scary creatures lurking in the dark, all of them out to get her. Every night, her father would have to check for monsters under her bed twice, and if he didn't, she refused to go to sleep.

She found herself smiling at the happy memories. Thinking back to her childhood always made her feel warm on the inside, even now when she was cold and felt lost.

She really missed the old times, when her parents were still together and always had time for their little princess. When everything seemed so big and so exciting, just because she was little and didn't know much about the world around her.

Back then, everything was perfect, but that was only because she hadn't yet seen the real world and all the things in it. She hadn't known how tough life could really be.

She quickly replaced the small smile with a slight frown and shook her head to rid herself of the memories.

Thinking of that stuff now was plain stupid. She wasn't back home with her parents, she was out in the streets all by herself.

The blonde tucked her thin jacket more tightly around her and hugged herself to try to keep warm, however, it didn't do much good. She wasn't exactly dressed according to the weather.

She knew she would have to hurry and find a place to stay the night soon, or else she'd definitely catch a cold. Not to mention all the creeps that would be wandering around at night. Caroline would have to admit that she didn't really want to encounter anyone like that.

Finding an apartment around here surely wasn't as easy as it seemed.

There were a lot of people in need of a place to stay, and not very much room, so most of the apartments were already full. The only ones left were the extremely expensive ones that only a small number of people could afford renting. Caroline - who was, at the moment, unemployed and didn't have much savings left from over the years - could never even dream of affording one of those fancy residences.

Despite having walked around town for the entire evening, she was still trying to keep her hopes up. There would have to be someplace she could afford to live, right?

_"There must be," _she told herself and plastered a grin on her face before she turned away from the already occupied apartment building and kept walking, in search of a place to stay.

* * *

Caroline huffed as she slumped down on the wooden bench.

She'd found another apartment, but as expected, that one was already inhabited, as well. By now, she'd lost count of how many places she'd passed by tonight.

She had really done all in her power. At first, she checked online and in the newspapers for ads about people renting out a place or needing a roommate, but she had no luck there. After that, she'd tried to ask the locals if they knew of a place in the area. She asked bypassing strangers on the street, employees at different grocery stores around the city, and even a tour guide. Some of them had known of a couple of places, but when she got there, she realized they'd all either been rented by somebody else or the prices were so ridiculously high that she'd be broke after staying there for a month.

In the end, she didn't have any other option and had been forced to roam around the huge city by foot and look for signs that said someone were renting out a place. And really, she wasn't having much more luck with this strategy than with the formerly mentioned ones.

With fingers that were stiff from the cold, she managed to take her phone out from her pocket and check the time. It was almost eleven.

She sighed heavily and placed the device back where she found it before standing up again. She knew sitting still for a long time would only make things worse, if they could somehow get worse, that is.

As she walked, her mind drifted back to six days ago, when things started going downhill for her.

It had been a pretty normal day, really. Her mood hadn't been on top, though, because she'd still been pissed at this girl she had been in a fight with a couple of days before, and she'd been dreading the set meeting with the principal that day. Caroline didn't much like to be scolded - after all most people didn't - and she wasn't used to it either, seeing as she rarely did anything wrong.

When the meeting finally begun, she could immediately sense the tense atmosphere in the room. She held her breath most of the time during the middle aged man's seemingly never ending speech, and when he finally ended his rant, Caroline had nearly passed out from the shock.

They had decided to kick her out of school…

Caroline Forbes had barely believed her own ears.

_Her_ kicked out of boarding school, no way! It couldn't be possible, could it? She had always been a sweet, polite and hard-working girl.

Her grades were average, nothing to brag about, but certainly not something to complain over either. She never was the best in math, but she managed to pass without much problems.

Caroline had also been very interested in many of the clubs that the school had. She had been head of the cheerleading squad, a part of the welcoming committee and had organized, or at the very least helped out with, all the school arrangements that had taken place since school started.

Sure, there had been times when she skipped school to go hang out with her friends, or didn't bother to do her homework, but that was completely normal. Everyone did it now and then.

The only times she ever did something to cause trouble was when she got into an argument with her longtime tormentor. They usually didn't do anything more than yell at each other, but that one time Caroline had just been driven over the edge and it had ended in a huge fight.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that she would get into serious trouble for it, but she could've never imagined that they'd go so far as to kick her out of school.

The blonde still hadn't quite come to terms with the fact, and she still didn't really get the logic of it all, but she knew she couldn't exactly argue her way back into school.

It must have been dumb luck that she managed to settle a deal with a public school not too far away that had decided to let her enroll, even if it was in the middle of the semester.

Now, her only problem was finding a place to stay.

* * *

Caroline - cold, lonely and worried - had completely lost track of time. All she knew was that it was the middle of the night. She could tell from the darkness of the sky high above her, the loud music and multicolored, blinking lights from the night clubs, bars and other buildings surrounding her, and from the sinking temperature.

Checking the time seemed useless at this point. If the clock was twelve, or two or even five, it was all the same. She was still homeless.

Something vibrated in her pocket and she jumped with surprise.

Then, her all too familiar ringtone - Changing by The Airborne Toxic Event - started playing and she picked up her phone to see who would call her at this hour.

The caller ID said Elena Gilbert.

Elena was a girl whom the blonde had known since they were kids. Their parents were good friends, so they would often be stuck together. They also went to the same kindergarten and later the same school. They were in the same grade and had several classes together up until they finished high school.

One could say they were inseparable.

Well, until high school ended. After that, they'd gone their separate ways and pretty much lost contact.

It wasn't until Caroline got kicked out of boarding school that she and Elena had begun talking again, but it wasn't like it had once used to be between them, at least she didn't feel like it was.

"Hey, Lena," she answered into the phone, hoping the other girl wouldn't be able to hear how tired she actually was.

"Care, oh my God, are you still outside?" Elena sounded beyond worried.

Well, of course she did. She was Elena, after all. The beautiful brunette had always been selfless and compassionate, much more so than Caroline.

Caroline almost let out a laugh at her friend. In a way it felt good that someone cared for her well-being, but she knew what would come next, and she wasn't about to accept charity from anyone, not even Elena. Especially not Elena.

"Hey, why don't you take a cab over to my place? I'll prepare the guest room for you," Elena offered.

"You can stay for as long as you like."

Caroline sighed heavily and pulled her free hand through her blonde curls.

They'd been having the same conversation only a couple of days before, when Elena first found out that she had nowhere to live.

"Elena, I told you already that I don't wanna-"

"It's not like you're some charity case, Caroline. You're my best friend, of course there's always room for you here," Elena interrupted her mid-sentence.

She kept wandering aimlessly around while talking.

"It's not that, I just…" She trailed off, unsure of what she was going to say. Elena's guess was pretty much spot on. She refused to be a burden to anyone. Even if it meant sleeping in a crappy motel and spending the days roaming around looking for an apartment she may or may not ever find, she wouldn't start having to rely on her best friend for everything.

"It's just what, Care?" she urged on.

"It's just that I can do things by myself now, and I want to prove that, okay?" she stated, trying to convince her friend that she'd be fine on her own.

"I'm old enough to make decisions for myself, and I don't need you to help me with everything!"

In the other end nothing but breathing could be heard for a good while, but then Elena spoke up again.

"Just promise me you'll call if you need anything. And if you don't find a place to stay, you're bunking in with me tomorrow," she concluded with a sigh of defeat and Caroline smiled at the brunette despite her not being able to see it.

"Elena, relax, you sound like my mom," she said with a laugh, before turning more serious again.

"I just want to do this on my own," she said.

Suddenly, her phone made a beeping sound signaling that it was almost out of power, and she realized she had to hang up.

"But my phone is almost out of power, so we'll speak tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, but go find somewhere to stay the night now. Bye."

With that, Caroline hung up, feeling a little better than before her conversation with Elena.

The girl was right, she should get to a motel now. A hot shower and a soft bed hadn't sounded so tempting in forever. Just thinking about it made her shiver with anticipation.

There wasn't much point in looking for an apartment now anyway, as the owners would be sleeping. She'd have better luck finding somewhere tomorrow when there were people around and there was daylight. The smartest thing to do would've been to find a motel hours earlier, but better late than never. She just needed to get inside now.

The only problem was… Well, she had no clue as to where she was at the moment. She'd been so enveloped in thoughts that she had been completely oblivious to her surroundings, and she didn't recognize the place she was now in.

To make it worse, the place was kind of spooky.

She was in an old, scabby looking neighborhood. There was no music or laughing to be heard, so she would've had to have walked pretty far without realizing it. Seeing anything there was difficult because of the dim lighting. Only a few gate lights were scattered around the area and while there were buildings there, all of the windows were dark. The entire place looked abandoned.

The atmosphere sent shivers down Caroline's spine.

Once again, she crossed her arms across her chest, hugging herself to get rid of the uneasy feeling.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, Care, just chill out already," she whispered to herself, laughing nervously.

Suddenly, she heard a scrambling sound just beside her and abruptly turned around to face whatever was there. She bumped into something and nearly fell flat on her face, but managed to balance herself after staggering a few steps. A sharp sound filled her ears and she jerked back.

Her body wanted to run away, but she stayed put long enough to see a creature rounding a corner. It wasn't anything dangerous, after all.

"Just a cat," she stated in relief, "Geez, Care, no more horror movies for you!"

She began laughing, somewhat relieved, but with the adrenaline still pumping in her veins. She didn't even realize just how loud she was laughing before she heard a voice and noticed that she'd attracted someone's attention.

"What's so funny?" said a voice behind her. She twirled around to face the man. In the dim light, she couldn't make out his face, but his voice was cold and sharp.

"W-what do you want?" she managed to stutter nervously.

The girl started backing away slowly as the man approached, like a predator closing in on its prey.

She froze as she felt her back collide with something. Another person.

"Come on, sweetheart, we just wanna have some fun, as well," chuckled the one behind her in a raspy voice.

She wanted to step away from him, but that meant getting closer to the man in front of her, and she didn't want that either, so she stayed put.

"Let's have some fun, or what do ya say, blondie?" whispered the man in her ear. His breath - no, all of him - reeked of alcohol and tobacco and the stench almost made her gag.

Caroline was scared for her life. What the hell was she supposed to do? It wasn't like a schoolgirl like her could beat up two adult men, and she had no clue as to where she could possibly run to. Even if she had known, her attackers were blocking both her escape routes.

She was trapped.

The man in front of her chuckled beneath his breath.

He sauntered the last few steps over to her and got uncomfortably close as he studied her. He began playing with one of her blonde locks, making her turn her head away from him, not daring to look him in the eyes.

He roughly grabbed a hold of her face and she whimpered in pain. He forced her to turn in his direction and held her in place as he took a good look at her face. After he was done, his gaze lowered, letting his hungry eyes take in her body.

"Ya know, this might actually be entertaining," he smirked after a while.

"Yeah, seems we got ourselves quite the catch this time," agreed the bigger man behind her.

Now Caroline had to squeeze her eyes shut in an attempt to keep the tears from rolling down her cheeks. However, in the end she failed and a drop of salty water escaped from the corner of her eye.

One of the men noticed and wiped it away with his thumb in a way that would normally seem kind. He smiled at her soothingly.

"Don't worry, blondie, I'll take_ very_ good care of ya." His statement sent shivers down the girl's spine.

"You? No way," growled the other one angrily, "This one's mine!"

"I found the bitch _and _I'm the boss."

The man behind her let out a displeased groan and moved away from Caroline. He then proceeded to start discussing the matter with his boss.

She shut their conversation out completely. She needed to get away from here, and that quickly. They were still too close that she could manage to run away, but they were preoccupied with their argument, so she had the upper hand.

Without hesitating for another second, she kicked the smaller one, hitting him in the knee. She attempted to push him over, but he managed to steady himself after staggering a few steps back.

The bigger one lunged at her, trying to grab a hold of her, but she dodged him and kicked him between the legs. He let out a pained noise, but held his ground, now more pissed than ever.

She realized this might be her only chance, so she turned on her heel and began sprinting. She ran as fast as her feet could carry her as the voices behind her grew more and more faint.

A soft sigh escaped her lips when she understood that she'd be able to get away. That had been way too close…

She spotted something in front of her just in time to come to an abrupt halt, just barely avoiding crashing into the brick wall blocking her way. It was a dead end.

Her heartbeat sped up even more, something she thought was impossible at this point.

Glancing back, she saw her pursuers making their way towards her.

Everything started turning blurry and the next thing she knew she was on her knees, clutching her hurting stomach as she coughed up a small amount of blood.

Something hard made an impact with her side and she tumbled over, rolling around twice before her back crashed into the brick wall.

She opened her blue eyes just in time to see the man she'd just kicked in the knee sitting down beside her. Her vision was all fuzzy, either from the tears in them or from being kicked in the stomach and tossed around like a rag doll. She wasn't really sure.

"You little bitch," she heard the deep, raspy voice of the larger man mutter somewhere above her.

The other one smiled at her creepily.

"Now, the fun can really begin."

She felt consciousness leaving her as she slowly drifted off into a deep sleep. The last thing she could make out was the dark silhouette of a man standing in the alley entrance and an accented voice speaking confidently.

"I'm sorry to ruin all the fun for the two of you, but I don't believe that's the correct way to treat such a divine young lady."

* * *

**A/N: Hi there, everyone! First of, thank you for reading and I hope you liked my story! This is my very first story on this site, so I hope I did well.**

**This chapter is just a prologue, so I haven't really started throughoutly exploring the plot yet. If there's something you feel like you got to know very little about, it'll will be explained further in future chapters. There will also be many more characters introduced soon.**

**The story is a modern AU that will take place in New Orleans. The main pairing will be Klaroline, but there will be other pairings as well, however the focus will most likely be on Klaroline.**

**I hope that all those who read will also take time to leave a review, telling me what you liked and/or disliked, what I should get better at, what you hope will happen next, etc. If you like the story so far, please follow/favourite, because knowing that you guys enjoy reading inspires me to write.**

**- Wish on the Star**


	2. A Not-So-Safe Haven

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries or any of the characters.**

* * *

Her head felt heavy. No, scratch that; her entire body felt heavy. And it hurt, as well.

She had no clue what was going on. Her disorientated mind couldn't seem to process what had happened yet. The last thing she clearly remembered was being attacked by two men, but where were they now? Where was she now? For all she knew, the men could still be there.

Heck, she needed to get away. She really needed to hurry, but even when she just lied there, she could tell she wouldn't be able to just get up and run right away. Her body hurt far too much and she was feeling sleepy.

She attempted to slowly clear her fuzzy mind and regain her senses in order to find out what was happening.

The first thing Caroline's mind registered about her surroundings was the smell. The second she inhaled, the foul smell filled her nose.

It smelled just like the men from earlier, tobacco and alcohol, a scent that immediately made her feel sick. It alerted her. It meant they were still there. The stench was mixed with the a weak hint of the smell a house would have when it was rarely cleaned, but the alcohol and tobacco easily overshadowed it.

The second sense she seemed to regain was her hearing, because just then, she could hear the sound of something - probably a closet or cabinet door - being slammed shut. She would've jumped at the sound, had she been able to move in her only half awakened state.

A couple of light footsteps could be heard, but it didn't seem like the owner of the footsteps were making their way towards her. Most likely the opposite, actually.

This calmed her down a slight bit. It meant she still had some time before she might have to fight or run. Or both.

_"Okay. Think, Caroline, focus," _the blonde ordered herself in her mind. She needed to get a good idea on the situation she was now in.

Let's see… She'd been assaulted in an alley in the slums of New Orleans. She'd fought off her attackers and ran, only to be trapped in a corner, where she had been beat up and possibly severely injured. After that, she had passed out, and now…

Now she was inside. She could tell by just how strong the stench there was, it could never smell like this outdoors. And the temperature was a lot higher now than it had been before she fainted.

Someone, at least one person, was in here with her, but still in another room.

Caroline managed to move her hands and wrinkle with her toes now, which was a good sign. Another good sign was that she was still fully dressed, meaning the men hadn't done anything to her body. At least not yet…

Then it hit her. She still had her phone!

She might not be able to call for help, but she could always send a text, as it didn't make any noise that could alert the man in the neighbor room.

She began searching all of her pockets as quietly as she could. She was sure she'd left it in the right pocket of her jacket after her talk with Elena earlier, but now it wasn't there anymore. She tried all the other pockets just in case, but it seemed she was out of luck.

Hell, did she ever have any luck to begin with?

Anyway, her phone had completely vanished. She figured they must have taken precaution and gotten rid of it just in case she'd think to contact anyone for help. Damn it.

When she finally opened her eyes, even the dim light in the room stung in her eyes. It felt like she'd been locked inside her room for days and was just now pulling away the curtains, letting the sun in. She blinked a couple of times, her eyes adjusting to the light, before taking in her surroundings.

She was lying on an old, reddish brown three seat couch with a wool blanket covering her.

The room she was in wasn't very big. It was just the couch, a coffee table in front of it with a small TV on the other side, and behind her there was some open space. The lower part of the walls were dark wood, like ebony, and the upper part was covered in red wallpaper, however most of the walls were hidden behind bookshelves, pictures and hooks with clothes hanging on them. The room had two rather small windows, but the curtains were pulled, so she couldn't see what was outside.

The place was rather messy, but still had a kind of homely feel to it.

"Ah, so the sleeping beauty finally awakens," a voice spoke from behind her.

Caroline sat up and spun around to face him, however she had moved way to fast and her head began spinning, forcing her to lean back a little again.

While it had been dark in the alley, making it difficult to see the people, she could tell that the man in front of her wasn't one of them. The fact didn't necessarily make her feel any safer, though.

She sensed that the man in front of her was dangerous. Sure enough, he didn't _look_ very dangerous, but looks could easily deceive.

The man looked as though he was of average height and was very well-built. He seemed to wear rather casual clothing, only a pair of dark blue jeans and a leather jacket with a gray t-shirt underneath. His hair was rather short, and it was curly. The color of it was either dark blonde or light brown, Caroline couldn't tell in this light. However, she could see the color of his eyes. His very beautiful eyes, she added. They were light blue and stood in strong contrast with his pale skin.

Yes, he was indeed very handsome, but that certainly didn't change the fact that he had kidnapped her.

"You know, you had me worried there for a second," he continued as he made his way around the couch she was halfway sitting, halfway lying on.

"I thought I'd might have to take you to see a doctor."

He bent down and placed himself on the edge of the table, since there was nowhere else to sit apart from the couch, that was already occupied by the young girl.

"I wonder, what would a lovely young lady like yourself be doing in such a vile place," he continued the one-sided small talk.

Just then did Caroline notice the man's accent. His voice was laced with a heavy British accent. It was the same accent she'd heard just before she passed out, but she couldn't remember what he'd said. Not that it mattered much, anyway.

"Don't you know it's dangerous around here," he spoke softly. She didn't know if it was a rhetorical question, or if he actually wanted her to reply, but she had no intention of starting a friendly chat with her kidnapper, so she kept quiet.

He smirked at her unwillingness to speak to him.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" he attempted to crack a joke. When the girl didn't respond to this either, he gave up and grew more serious.

He leaned slightly forwards and stretched out his arm in order to touch her forehead.

"I tried checking for injuries, and I didn't notice anything too-" the man began, but just before his fingertips made contact with Caroline's pearl-white skin, she abruptly crawled back on the couch, as far away from his extended hand as possible.

"Don't touch me," she said in a shaky, yet somewhat determined voice, her greenish blue eyes narrowing at him.

"No sudden movements, love, you hit your head pretty hard back there," he instructed her calmly, but she overheard his advice and continued to glare at him, trying to seem brave, although in reality she was on the verge of crying.

The man's hand didn't withdraw and instead kept inching closer to her face.

"I told you not to touch me," Caroline repeated, almost sounding a little threatening this time.

"If you come any closer I'll scream for help."

This caused him to let out a series of low chuckles.

She eyed him suspiciously. What could possibly be so funny about that? Was he completely nuts or something?

"You do know what kind of place we're in, right?" he asked, still laughing to himself, "If you scream, everyone around here will simply think we're having some fun together. That's what I told the owner, anyway, to avoid any trouble."

She hadn't noticed it before now, but in his other hand, he was holding a bottle of bourbon. He brought it to his lips and gulped down a few large sips before letting out a pleased sigh.

"L-let me go," she stammered

"Out there?" the drunken man chuckled.

"No way. You might risk getting yourself killed. Just think about what happened earlier."

She had been trying her hardest _not _to think of that, and instead concentrate on the current situation, but now the memories came flashing back through her mind.

She stood up and staggered away a few steps, putting more distance between herself and the man, getting closer to the front door. He made no attempt to stop her as she inched closer and closer to the door. He simply just looked at her, rather intrigued.

Caroline didn't dare to turn her back on the stranger, so she stood with her back against the door as she tried twisting the doorknob, only to realize it was locked with a key.

Of course.

"Don't bother, I already locked it. Call it my feeble attempt to keep my pesky neighbors out."

She ignored him, not interested in the false friendliness he was expressing towards her.

"What do you want with me?" Stupid question, but she didn't know what else to say. She already knew what he wanted, of course.

"Now, that's a rude way to talk to the person who just saved you," he playfully remarked, taking another sip or two from the liquor bottle.

"Let me go!" she screamed desperately.

Caroline couldn't take it any longer. She was so scared. She let the tears fall freely from her eyes and slid down on the floor, pulling her feet up and wrapping her arms around them. She bent her head down, resting her forehead on her knees as she sobbed loudly.

There was no way out, and no one to help her. There was nothing she could do.

The footsteps closed in on her and the man sat down in front of her, placing the bottle on the floor beside them. He tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear gently and spoke in a calm, comforting voice.

"Hush, big girls don't cry, do they?" he smiled at her. She glanced up at him through her thick moist eyelashes.

It was hard to believe that someone that looked like him could be a bad guy, but he was… Right?

"Listen," he sighed, "I wasn't with those men in the alley. I just happened to walk by on my way home and heard something. When I saw you being attacked by those two, I realized I had to help you, so I brought you here."

That wasn't the truth, was it? And even if it was, this man gave Caroline an uneasy feeling. She couldn't trust him. She didn't know why exactly, she just knew she couldn't.

"You're safe here with me."

He stood up and extended a hand to help her to her feet. She managed to get up, but without his help.

"Please, just stay here till morning. You have my word that I'll let you go once the sun rises."

She nodded once, making the man smile a small, yet seemingly genuine, smile.

* * *

**A/N: Hello again! I want to thank all of you who reviewed, favourited, followed or simply just read the first chapter. I got a total of 31 follows, which really surprised me. It made me really happy to see that you all liked my story.**

**I know this chapter is rather short and uneventful, and I apologize for that. But please bear with me. I originally planned to make it way longer, but then I decided to divide what I had written into 2 chapters so that I could publish this today. Unless something comes up, I should be posting the next chapter tomorrow, because it's already almost finished.**

**Again, I hope you all favourite/follow and leave a review. Reviews really help me write, and I'm sure a lot of you feel the same way, so please review, it doesn't take long.**

**- Wish on the Star **


	3. Earning Trust

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries or any of the characters.**

* * *

_"Please, just stay here till morning. You have my word that I'll let you go once the sun rises."_

_She nodded once, making the man smile a small, yet seemingly genuine, smile._

He then picked up the bourbon bottle and gulped down the rest of it before declaring that he was headed for bed and that she could sleep on the couch. He soon disappeared into the bathroom, where he stayed for a couple of minutes before heading to his bedroom.

After the door shut behind him, she let out a sigh of relief.

He'd bought it.

No matter what this man told her, she didn't trust him. He was a drunk living in a scabby old apartment who had picked up an unconscious schoolgirl on the street and brought her home with him. There was no way she could just go to sleep on his couch without a second thought.

Like hell she was staying the night. She was getting out as soon as possible.

Caroline began browsing through the drawers and bookshelves, the pockets of his jackets and coats and everywhere else she could think of, in search for a key.

She was soon out of options. Well almost.

She went over to the door and slid her hand across the top of the doorframe. Her fingers made contact with a cold, metal object and she proceeded to grab a hold of it.

Once she had it in her hand, she looked at it. Bingo!

Hastily but silently, she unlocked the door and slid out, shutting it behind her.

After a quick look around, her eyes registered a staircase in the other end of the room.

At first, she walked slowly, trying not to alert the man just on the other side of the wall, but as she got further away she picked up the pace and was soon running towards the stairs. Towards freedom.

But then, she felt herself collide with something and she was pushed back onto the ground. Her eyes darted around and her heartbeats picked up the pace. Had she ruined everything?

But no, it wasn't the man she'd just escaped, or anyone else even remotely dangerous-looking.

On the ground just about a meter away from her sat a young brunette, rubbing her forehead and groaning in pain.

The girl had been holding a huge cardboard box that had now fallen to the ground. Loads of stuff had already fell out of it.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry-" she began, almost forgetting that she was in a hurry, but the girl cut her off.

"You fucking bitch!" she exclaimed furiously.

"Look at this mess! I bet half of it is broken! Why don't you watch where you're going?"

Caroline was taken aback to say the least. She certainly hadn't expected the sweet-looking girl to start yelling at her like that.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," she apologized, but then she remembered something far more important.

"I have to get going!" she abruptly cried out.

She stood up and began walking away in a rapid pace, but the young woman grabbed a hold of her wrist and yanked her back.

"You're not going anywhere," the brunette stated, glaring at her.

"I mean, just look at this mess! I bet half of my stuff is broken!" she explained upon seeing Caroline's surprised face.

The younger girl glanced down at the mess on the floor.

To her, it all just looked like a pile of junk.

Most of it seemed to be normal stuff to keep in an apartment. There were all sorts of different things like pillows, a lamp or two, a mirror that had somehow lived through the fall, some pictures, loose wires, books, trinkets and smaller cardboard boxes containing God knows what. There was nothing of value, as far as she could see.

The only thing she could see that actually was broken was a blue and white vase. She couldn't tell if it was something expensive or just more of the cheap, random stuff. She couldn't understand why anyone would get so worked up about any of these things breaking.

Instead of pointing out that barely anything was broken or how cheap most of it looked, Caroline told her that she didn't have any money with her to pay her for the damage made.

"Why are you here at this hour anyway? Are you some prostitute going home from a late shift or something?" she asked, her expression changing into a disgusted frown.

Caroline didn't answer. What could she say? She could tell the girl she wasn't, but then she'd have to come up with a believable reason for running around the halls at night. Telling the truth wouldn't be a very bright idea either, because "I was kidnapped by your next-door neighbor" didn't exactly sound all that convincing, or even sane, for that matter.

"The owner doesn't exactly appreciate the renters having visitors at night, you know," she pointed out.

"Sleeping with the renters, running around the halls during nighttime, bumping into me and on top of that refusing to pay for the damage you caused," the brunette listed.

"I could get you into some serious trouble for causing this much havoc."

"Please don't!" Caroline begged, but she didn't bother listening, her mind already made up.

"I'm gonna call the owner and have him take care of you," she finally decided.

She took out her phone and dialed the number, but just as she was about to press the call button, a male voice interrupted her.

"Hey, there you are! You shouldn't run off in the middle of the night."

Caroline knew the accented voice. As she turned around, she saw the man make his way towards them. He had obviously been in a hurry to chase after her, because he hadn't bothered to change out of his boxers and t-shirt and into something more decent.

"Ah, she came from your place. Guess I shouldn't be surprised," the brunette commented drily, seemingly unfazed by his half-naked state.

"Hello to you too, Sophie. Fancy seeing you here at this hour."

He grinned at her in a friendly matter, trying to change the topic by chit-chatting, just like he'd done with Caroline earlier.

"Cut the crap and tell me who this chick is, would you?"

"A call girl. More specifically_ my_ call girl, so don't tell the owner about this," he demanded.

That was just too disrespectful. She couldn't believe he'd called her a call girl. Or well, she guessed she could believe it. This guy seemed like the type who would say anything that would benefit him. He would do anything in order to keep himself safe. Or perhaps he was trying to keep her safe?

No, that was plain ridiculous. He must have his own reasons for doing it.

He grabbed a hold of Caroline's shoulders and pulling her away from the other woman. Her back nearly touched his torso. They were so close that she could feel his body heat and his breath, which was tickling her neck.

A shiver ran up her spine and she felt pearls of sweat beginning to form on her forehead. He still made her feel anxious, but now - unlike earlier - she wasn't entirely convinced he was a bad guy. But she was still positive that he was.

"What if I do tell him?" Sophie countered stubbornly.

"Keep your mouth shut and I'll pretend I've forgotten about the money you owe me." Sophie opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it as she seemed to change her mind. She glared up into the man's strikingly blue eyes for a few more moments before turning on her heel, marching away from them with firm steps. She didn't even bother to pick up the rest of her stuff.

He didn't let go of her before he was certain they were alone in the hall.

"What the hell was that all about…" muttered Caroline, more to herself than the blue eyed man.

"Trust me, that one's actually one of my friendlier neighbors."

"Friendly?" Caroline snapped back angrily.

He merely shrugged at her, as though this was completely normal behavior for people he usually associated with.

She was sure about one thing. If that Sophie girl was someone he considered friendly, she did not want to meet anyone else he knew.

"I told you that you shouldn't go out around here at nighttime."

* * *

Once back at the apartment, an awkward silence fell over them. Caroline sat on the very edge of the couch in a tensed position, her fingers restlessly tapping against her knees. The man stood leaned against the wall a couple of meters away, his arms crossed over his chest.

She was grateful that he'd now pulled on a pair of jeans. At least it made it slightly less awkward.

The ancient grandfather clock on the wall ticked loudly, making the silence between them even more unbearable. It scarcely took two minutes before Caroline couldn't take it anymore.

"I want to leave," she stated, gazing at the floor as though she'd never seen anything more interesting before.

"I know you have my phone, so just give it back so that I can call for a cab."

The room was utterly silent for a good while. The endless ticking made the already agonizingly long silence feel even longer.

"Where would you be going?"

_"What is he; some kind of stalker? Okay… The creepy factor just went through the roof,"_ she thought to herself in a joking matter.

"Home," she simply told him, biting her lower lip nervously while praying that he wouldn't see through the terrible lie.

Of course she couldn't go home. Her parents lived way back in Mystic Falls and she'd already told Elena that she wouldn't be bunking in at her place. Her only option would be to check in at a motel or something for the night.

"You're a terrible liar, you know that?" he smiled humorlessly. She looked up at him for a second but then moved her gaze back to the floor, knowing her expression would confirm his theory.

"You don't have anywhere to go, do you?" he continued, walking over to sit by her on the couch.

She shut her eyes.

She felt so helpless, and she'd always hated feeling helpless. Caroline would always take on the role as leader and put up a confident and strong façade, but underneath it all, she had always been rather insecure, and she hated that about herself.

"Why don't you stay here for a while? You should get some rest, and then tomorrow it'll be easier to go look for an apartment, because I assume that's what you were doing before you got ambushed?"

She remained quiet, refusing to answer any of his questions. At this point, she was afraid that she would start to cry if she tried talking.

"I promise you I'm not a bad guy. I just want to help you out. Please let me," he kept pushing when she didn't come with any sort of reply.

She opened her eyes and looked up into his eyes. He looked so kind in that moment, so comforting and safe, like he could protect her from anything. Like, when she was with him, she didn't have to be scared of anything anymore.

Of course, these thoughts were just fantasies created by her exhausted and disorientated mind.

"What's your name?" he asked her in a tender voice.

"Caroline," she managed to mutter.

"Caroline," he repeated, letting the word roll off his tongue.

It sounded so elegant and beautiful when he said it.

Just like he had earlier, he slowly lifted his hand up to her face and pushed away a misplaced lock of hair. This time, however, the gesture didn't make her feel uneasy. His hand gently brushing her cheek as he withdrew it actually felt kind of soothing.

"Like I told you earlier; I'm nothing like those men you met earlier. I have no bad or unholy intentions whatsoever. You can count on that."

They sat there for a while.

He really was a good guy, wasn't he? Or at least he wasn't a bad one.

It was just for a night - no, less than that - she told herself.

While she would probably feel better at a motel, right now she was feeling so exhausted that the thought of staying awake for even a couple of more minutes was appalling. All she wanted right now was to lay down and let herself drift off into a deep, long sleep.

"Okay," she said. It was a rather pathetic answer, but it'd have to suffice as she couldn't think of anything better to say at the moment.

"I'll stay on the couch."

He nodded and reached his arm down to the floor, picking up the blanket she'd used earlier and offering it to her. After she accepted it gratefully, he stood up.

"Goodnight then," he muttered.

The man started walking towards his bedroom, however when he reached the door, he turned around to glance at the girl - who was just then adjusting the pillows, getting ready to go to sleep - one more time before he went to bed. She felt his gaze resting on her and raised her head to watch him. His eyes sparkled in the light of the many wall lamps and a barely visible smile was playing in the corners of his lips. Before leaving, he told her something.

"I don't wish to hurt you, Caroline. I could never wish to hurt you."

She wasn't entirely sure why, but this time she believed him.

* * *

**A/N: Hey! Like I promised, here is chapter 3. I don't usually write this much in only a matter of days, but since I know there are people reading this story, I just get so inspired to write a lot.**

**This chapter, just like the last one, isn't particularly long, but I think I'm going to keep writing short chapters and instead update more often.**

**We haven't seen much of Sophie on the show, but I'm pretty sure she isn't anything like I portrayed her. Oh well, some of the characters will have to be a little (or very) OOC in order to fit into the story.**

**Just a heads-up, but I won't be updating every day like I've been doing up until now. I honestly don't know when the next chapter will be up, but probably this weekend.**

**I hope you enjoyed reading, and please leave a review! If you haven't followed/favourited yet, I'd also be very happy if you did.**

**- Wish on the Star**


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